The Insect Transformation Facility, we are a university service facility that helps clients make genetically modified insects. Their research ranges from neuroscience in which they are doing research on mosquito olfaction to public health research in which they are making vaccines to malaria, to expressing novel proteins within the black soldier fly. Traditionally, needles have been opened by pulling the needles and then brushing them against something in order to open that needle, and that can produce needles which are either perfect for microinjection or unusable.
And so this method allows us to open the needle in a concise fashion in which we get sharp needles each time. This protocol gives feedback on the opening size of the needle. Once that needle is open, you can dial back the pressure that is being delivered to the tip of the needle, and the higher the pressure at which air bubbles stop flowing, the smaller the opening size of that needle.
